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Syllabus: Kant's Critique of Pure Reason
Syllabus: Kant's Critique of Pure Reason
Spring 2012
Syllabus
Instructors
Professor Course assistants
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Texts
All of the following textbooks have been ordered through the Seminary Co-op and are all
required texts for the course:
1. Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, trans. Norman Kemp Smith. ISBN:
978-0230013384
2. Immanuel Kant, Logic, (Dover Press edition), Robert S. Hartman and Wolfgang
Schwarz. ISBN: 978-0486256504
3. Immanuel Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, revised trans. Paul Carus
and Lewis White Beck ISBN: 978-0023193309
4. Henry Allison, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism: An Interpretation and Defense,
Revised and Expanded Edition ISBN: 978-0300102666
5. P. F. Strawson, The Bounds of Sense ISBN: 978-0415040303
Some, but by no means all, of the readings assigned for the course is to be found in one
of the five texts above. The rest of the readings will be made available through the Chalk
site of the course. If you ever encounter any problem obtaining an assigned reading for
the course, you should immediately contact the course assistants for the course by e-mail
and let them know about the problem.
Undergraduate Students: This course is open to any undergraduate who has secured
permission to enroll in it.
Policy on Auditors: Anyone with a serious interest in the topic is welcome to audit the
course.
Chalk Site: There is a Chalk website for this course (chalk.uchicago.edu). All readings
listed on the syllabus not available in one of the books ordered for the course are to be
found on this site. In addition, a great many readings not mentioned on the syllabus are
also to be found on this site. The latter generally pertain to topics discussed in passing in
lecture and are made available for students who wish to pursue them further.
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Course Participation: All students are expected to attend class regularly, be conversant
with the required readings.
Graduate Discussion Section: There will be a graduate discussion section for the course.
It will be led by Professor Conant. It will meet on Wednesdays, from 3:00 to 4:00pm in
Harper 103. The graduate section will begin meeting during the third week of the quarter.
It is open to all PhD and MA students either enrolled in or auditing the course.
Attendance of the graduate section is an optional component of the course for graduate
students enrolled for credit.
Undergraduate Course Requirements: There are three required elements for the
course: (1) mandatory attendance and participation in discussion sections, (2) a short
midterm paper (6-8 pages) due by Monday, April 30th, at 5pm, at the beginning of week
6; (3) a longer paper (12-15 pages) due by 5pm on Friday, June 8th, of week 11. Special
deadlines will be arranged for graduating seniors. All undergraduate papers are to be
delivered to the course assistants, Gilad Nir or Zack Loveless, in hardcopy form.
Graduate Course Requirements: Graduate students taking the course for credit are
expected write a term paper at the end of the quarter, due on Friday, June 8th, of 11th
week at 5pm. Papers are to be submitted via email to Prof. Conant in electronic form. The
final paper is the only official requirement for graduate students enrolled in the course. It
may be on any topic of your choice pertaining to themes covered in the lecture. Graduate
student papers (both M. A. and Ph.D.) should be between 15 and 30 pages.
Policy on Extensions for Graduate Student Papers: Graduate students may hand in
their final papers after the official due date and still receive credit for the course, only if
they have secured permission from the professor to do so. Any student granted an
extension should also be aware of the following: such papers will not be graded
immediately upon receipt. The later the paper, the less promptly it will be graded.
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Schedule of Meetings, Topics and Readings
Pink slips signed for any undergraduates who want to enroll in the course and
have yet to receive permission.
No assigned reading.
Required Readings:
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason Avii–xxii; Bvii–xliv; A1/B1–A16/B30;
A319/B376–A320/B377
Kant, Prolegomena, “Introduction” and “Preamble”, AA IV 255-264
Kant, Logic, Section 1: “The Concept of Logic”, pp. 13-18
Stephen Engstrom, “Understanding and Sensibility”
Suggested Readings:
Strawson, Peter F., The Bounds of Sense, Part 1, pp. 15-44
Heidegger, Martin, Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics pp. 3-26
Förster, Eckart, The 25 Years of Philosophy, Chapter 1: “Kant’s Revolution in
the Mode of Thought”
Allison, Henry, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism, 2nd Edition, Chapter 1,
Section 1: “An Introduction to the Problem”
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Third Meeting (April 10th) - The Transcendental Aesthetic
Required Readings:
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason A19/B33–A49/B73
Allison, Henry, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism, 2nd Edition, Chapter 2,
Section 4, “Discursivity and Judgment”
Strawson, Peter F., The Bounds of Sense, Part 2, Chapter 1: “Space and Time"
Parsons, Charles, “The Transcendental Aesthetic”
Suggested Readings:
Allison, Henry, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism, 1st Edition, Part 2, Section 4,
“Discursivity and Judgment” & 2nd Edition, Part 2, Section 5, “The
Sensible Conditions of Human Cognition”
Warren, Dan, “Kant on the Apriority of Space”
Thompson, Manley, “Singular Terms and Intuitions in Kant’s Epistemology”
Parsons, Charles, “Kant’s Philosophy of Arithmetic”,
Beck, Lewis White, “Did the Sage of Königsberg have no Dreams?”
Required Readings:
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason A50/B74–A84/B116; “Letter to Marcus Herz,
May 26, 1789”
Strawson, Peter F. The Bounds of Sense, Part 2, Chapter 2: “Objectivity and
Unity”, Sections 1-2.
Boyle, Matt, “Kant on Logic and the Laws of the Understanding”
Suggested Readings:
MacFarlane, John, “Kant, Frege and the Logic in Logicism”
Boyle, Matt, “Kant’s Hylomorphism”
Tolley, Clinton, “Kant on the Nature of Logical Laws”
Rödl, Sebastian “Logical Form as Relation to an Object”
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Fifth Meeting (April 24th) A-Edition of the Transcendental Deduction
Required Readings:
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason A84/B116–A95/B129; A95–A130
Henrich, Dieter “Kant’s Notion of a Deduction and the Methodological
Background of the First Critique”
Strawson, Peter F., “Imagination and Perception”
Strawson, The Bounds of Sense, Part 2, Ch. 2: “Objectivity and Unity”,
Sections 3-9.
Suggested Readings:
Pippin, Robert, Kant’s Theory of Form, Chapter 6, “The First-Edition
Deduction”, pp. 151-166.
Engstrom, Stephen, “The Transcendental Deduction and Skepticism”
Sellars, Wilfred, Science and Metaphysics, Chapter 1; “Some Remarks on
Kant’s Theory of Experience”, & “The Role of Imagination in Kant’s
Theory of Experience”
McDowell, John, “Sellars on Perceptual Experience” & “The Logical Form of
an Intuition”
Kern, Andrea, “Spontaneity and Receptivity in Kant’s Theory of Knowledge”
Required Readings:
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason B129–146.
Henrich, Dieter “The Proof Structure of the B-Deduction”
Allison, Henry, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism, 1st Edition, Chapter 3,
Section 7: “Objective Validity and Objective Reality”
Pippin, Robert, Hegel’s Idealism, Ch. 2, Section 1 (pp.16-24)
Suggested Readings:
Kant, Prolegomena, Part 2 Section 18-19, AA IV 298-300.
Allison, Henry, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism, 2nd Edition, Part 3, Section
7: “The Transcendental Deduction”
Allison, Henry, “Reflections on the B Deduction
Pippin, Robert, Hegel’s Idealism, Ch. 2, Sections 2-4 (pp.24ff.)
Pippin, Robert, Kant’s Theory of Form, Chapter 6, “The Second-Edition
Deduction”, pp. 166-187.
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Seventh Meeting (May 8th) B-Edition of the Deduction: §§21-27
Required Readings:
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason B144–169.
McDowell, John, “Hegel’s Idealism as a Radicalization of Kant”, Sections 1-4
Land, Thomas, “Kant’s Spontaneity Thesis”
Bauer, Nathan, “Kant’s Subjective Deduction”
Suggested Readings:
McDowell, John, “Reply to Pippin”, “On Pippin’s Postscript”
Pippin, Robert, “Leaving Nature Behind”, “On McDowell’s Response”,
“McDowell’s Germans”
Land, Thomas, “Kantian Conceptualism”
Bauer, Nathan “Peculiar Intuition”
McDowell, John, “Sensory Consciousness in Kant and Sellars” & Self-
Determining Subjectivity and External Constraint”
Eighth Meeting (May 15th) 1st and 2nd Analogies, Refutation of Idealism
Required Readings:
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason A176/B218–A211/B256; B274–279.
Strawson, The Bounds of Sense, Part 2, Ch. 3: “Permanence and Causality”
Boyle, Matt, “Sortalism and Perceptual Content”
Roedl, Sebastian, Categories of the Temporal, Ch. 6: “Generic Thoughts”
Suggested Readings:
Melnick, Arthur, “The Second Analogy”
Allison, Henry, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism, 2nd Edition, Part 3, Sec. 9:
“The Analogies of Experience”
Warren, Dan, “Kant’s Dynamics”
Boyle, Matt, “Tack-On Theories of Rationality”
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Ninth Meeting (May 22nd) Refutation of Idealism (continued) & The
Ground of the Distinction of All Objects into Phenomena and Noumena
Required Readings:
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason B274–279; A235/B294–A260/B315.
Allison, Henry, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism, 2nd Edition, Part 1, Secs 2-3
Warren, Daniel, “Things in Themselves”
Heidegger, Martin, Phenomenological Interpretations of Kant, pp. 67-70.
Pippin, Robert, Kant’s Theory of Form, Chapter 7, “Appearances and Things
in Themselves”, pp. 188-215.
Suggested Readings:
Carl, Wolfgang, “Kant’s Refutation of Problematic Idealism”
Edmunts, Dina “The Refutation of Idealism”
Strawson, Peter F., The Bounds of Sense, Part IV: “The Metaphysics of
Transcendental Idealism”
Allison, “The Non-Spatiality of Things in Themselves for Kant”
Required Readings:
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason A293/B349–A338/B396; A707/B735–A794/
B822
Strawson, The Bounds of Sense, Part 3, Chap. 1: “The Logic of Illusion”
Allison, Henry, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism, 2nd Edition, Part 4, Sec. 11:
“Reason and Illusion”
Suggested Readings:
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason A405/B432–A462/B490; A794/B822-A856/
B884
Strawson, The Bounds of Sense, Part 3, Chapters 2, 3 & 4: “The Soul”, “The
Cosmos”, and “God”
Allison, Henry, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism, 2nd Edition, Part 4, Sections
12-14
Moore, Adrian, “The Transcendental Doctrine of Method”